A "symbolic" pioneer in Syria's scientific advancements can now be added to the list of departures and defections from the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in recent days.

Mohammad Ahmad Faris, Syria's first man in space, crossed into Turkey this past weekend after meeting with commanders of the rebel Free Syrian Army in the Syrian city of Aleppo, the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported.

"I am ready to provide assistance to the Free Syrian Army," Anadolu quoted Faris as telling commanders of the umbrella group of rebel fighters. "We are with you all the way."FULL POST

An Army veteran who neighbors say played in a far-right punk band was the lone shooter in the rampage at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin that killed six people and wounded four, according to information Monday from law enforcement authorities.

Wade Michael Page, 40, was shot to death by police responding to the Sunday morning attack in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek, the community's chief of police told reporters.

It was the latest violence against the Sikh community in the United States in apparent misdirected revenge for the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Editor’s note: Mia Bloom is an associate professor of international studies at Penn State University and author of "Bombshell: The Many Faces of Women Terrorists (2011)" and "Dying to Kill: the Allure of Suicide Terror (2005)."

By Mia Bloom, Special to CNN

Before his death during an American raid in 2011, Osama bin Laden's public statements often called on the young people of Muslim countries to rise up against their rulers.

In the documents released in May that were taken from his Abbottabad compound, bin Laden admits that "most of the work in Afghanistan [has] turned to the goal of luring and preparing the youth."

Terrorists do not fit a particular profile. No longer can we expect them to look a certain way, be of a certain age or indeed even that they be men.

For example, at least a dozen women in the Sunni triangle of Iraq targeted American military personnel and Iraqi civilians in "martyrdom operations" - especially from 2006 to 2008. In May 2008, a woman feigning pregnancy killed 36 people during a wedding reception in Balad.

Search Security Clearance

Share this blog

About this blog

CNN's Security Clearance examines national and global security, terrorism and intelligence, as well as the economic, military, political and diplomatic effects of it around the globe, with contributions from CNN's national security team in Washington and CNN journalists around the world.